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marry him, it was her favorite. Always would be.
 Good. I m in the mood for a steak. Then I ve got some things to show you
when we get back to my place. He locked up his deskcomp, ushered her out the
door.
 What things? she asked as the lift chugged uplevel.
 Some boxes I had in storage. They came in on the supply ship the other day,
but this is the first chance I ve had to get around to them. I ll only show
them to you if you promise not to laugh.
 Holovids from your academy days?
 Even before that.
Sweet heavens. Childhood holos of Mack, perhaps. She glanced up at him, tried
to picture him as an angelic child. Failed. Started to chuckle.
 Get it out of your system now, he warned, taking her hand as the lift came
to a stop.  No laughing once I show them to you.
He would tell her nothing more all through dinner, tortured her by making her
wait, insisting they have coffee at the club. When they returned to his
apartment, he pretended he d forgotten where the boxes were.
 I ll find them tomorrow, he said.
She grabbed a handful of his uniform jacket.  Tonight, Admiral. Now.
He pulled them out of a storage cabinet in his small kitchen, unstrapped
them. Put them on the low table in front of the sofa.
 That s Trevan, Alec, and me. He handed her a holo of three boys, ranging in
age from ten to fifteen. Mack and his brothers. Tallest and eldest, he was in
the middle. Gangly, young Mack glared at the camera, sporting a noticeable
black eye.
 What happened?
 Brotherly love. Trevan s a year younger than me. He s better at squareball.
I was a better skater, better at ice shot. We were playing squareball that
day. On opposite teams.
She smiled broadly.  And this? Three younger boys, amid lots of foliage.
Mack still the most serious of the group.
 Years before that. We had a tree fort. My first command.
There were more than just old holos. Some team medals, a piece of fossilized
rock, a small jar of coins. Old music vids.
 Can you believe I used to listen to that stuff? He handed the thin slats to
her. Gillie looked at the unfamiliar names and song titles and shook her head.
 Me either. He took them back, tossed them into the box.
 Where did you suddenly find all this? It seemed like something he might
have kept on board theVedritor. Yet he d said it had come in on the supply
ship.
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 Alec had it. I told you he s an archaeologist with the Novidian Museum,
didn t I?
He had. And that Trevan was with Fleet medical, on a station near the Ladrin
colonies.  No offense, but this stuff s hardly museum quality.
Mack smiled.  These are things my parents had. After the shuttle accident,
Alec ended up with them because, well, he s usually dirtside. Easier for the
lawyers to track down.
His parents death five years before had brought the three brothers closer
together. Mack had told her how he looked forward to her meeting Trev, and
Alec and his wife.
 What else do you have in there you don t want me to see?
He rummaged, came up with a narrow metal case, the kind that usually
contained a set of lightpens. An expression of delight crossed his face.
 Praise the Lady, I knew I hadn t lost this. My grandfather gave it to me.
Trev always said it wasn t real. That s probably because I got it, and he
didn t.
 Brotherly love?
Mack jiggled the lid carefully.  Brotherly jealousy. He flipped the lid
back, turned the case toward her.  What do you think?
She didn t have to think. The crystal s presence sang through her the moment
the lid cracked open. She sucked in a short breath and slid abruptly backward
on the couch. The purple glow spread from the slender piece of true crystal
like wine spilling from a goblet. It flared outward, found her, enveloped her
in a light cloak of lavender. Then settled, its spellform merging with her
essence, and faded to a muted glow.
Mack stared at her, his knuckles whitening as his fingers tightened around
the case. She could feel confusion, apprehension, and fear churn through him.
Her own mind reeled. Her heart felt as if it had stopped beating and would
never start again.
 Gillaine? His voice rasped.
She closed her eyes briefly as if by doing so she could erase the lavender
mist between them. Sought for a way to explain it all to him, to make it
right. Something Mack would know how to do. Her own skills in that regard had
suddenly dissipated.
But she knew she had to start. And decided to start with the least amount of
information. Never volunteer more than is absolutely necessary. Lady
Kiasidira s Guideline Number Twenty-two.
Her whole life hinged not only on her next words but his response to them.
She took a deep breath, hoped she had the right words. Hoped her voice would
carry over the pounding of her heart.
 I m Raheiran.
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18
 Raheiran. Mack echoed the word, his face devoid of emotion.
 Yes.
 True Raheiran.
She glanced down at her hands knotted in her lap, at the mist lightly
swirling over her skin. He could see that as well as she could. It wasn t
doubt that made Mack question, but shock. She knew that.  Yes.
He started to speak, stopped, his dark gaze unreadable. His flat demeanor
made her insides feel tight. She told herself he was a professional, schooled
to minimize his reactions. Tried to reassure herself that at least he hadn t
dropped to his knees in abject reverence, as Tobias had. Mack would be lost to
her then. His Lady Goddess was someone distant, unapproachable, who belonged
in a shrine. A coldness washed over her as if she were already on a pedestal
somewhere, the air around her dark and chilled. She prayed he d believe that
she was only a rim-trader captain, albeit a Raheiran one.
She let out a short, tense breath.  I wanted to tell you. But with everything
going on, I was afraid to.
His gaze flicked to the slender crystal. A bright lavender energy pulsed
softly through it. Gillie knew Mack had seen the crystal glow when Rigo
touched it, knew its brightness and color had been nothing like what he saw
now.
 There hasn t . . . He stopped, swallowed hard.  There hasn t been a true [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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